Valued occupations, social participation, and quality of life of the brain injury survivor: A Path Analysis

July 2005 A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Occupational Therapy. Typescript Project Advisor : Ferol Ludwig This study explored the relationship between occupational performance, occupational satisfaction, social participation, and quality of life for survivors of brain injury participating in a community based program. This research project used multivariate analysis, specifically path analysis to test a proposed model exploring quality of life for individuals living with brain injury. Few research studies have undertaken the task of looking at relationships between social participation and quality of life; even fewer studies have looked at how meaningful occupations influence quality of life. To explore this relationship the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure, Community Integration Questionnaire, and the Wisconsin HSS Quality of Life Inventory were used. A participant pool of 80 survivors of brain injury completed each of the assessments. The findings of this study determined that social participation is a significant predictor of quality of life. The regression model that explored occupational satisfaction and social participation was also found to be significant. Another finding was that social participation significantly influenced the cohort\u27s feelings of love and belonging. Finally, it was found that safety and security is an area of need for this cohort as they attempt occupations in the broader social environment. The findings indicate that social participation has the greatest effect on quality of life in this model; and occupational satisfaction has a slightly weaker effect. The effects of both occupational satisfaction and occupational performance were stronger as they directly influenced quality of life, however, the path model demonstrated that these two variables are influenced by social participation as they influenced quality of life for the survivor of brain injury participating in community programming. These findings are critical to the development of programming by occupational therapists. Finding indicate that social participation, facilitated by satisfaction with desired occupations, should be an important consideration in influencing the quality of life of survivors of brain injury participating in community programs